DRBC Executive Director Steve Tambini participated in the Schuylkill River Restoration Fund (SRRF) awards ceremony on September 20, 2017, which announced the distribution of over $364,000 to various water quality improvement projects throughout the Schuylkill River Watershed. The ceremony took place at Meadowood Senior Living, Worcester, Pa., which received a grant from the SRRF in 2012 to create rain gardens and improve stormwater management on their property, which also serves as an outdoor classroom for the Worcester Elementary School.

Award ceremony speakers included Mr. Tambini, along with Schuylkill River Heritage Area's Executive Director Elaine Paul Schaefer, Philadelphia Water Department's Kelly Anderson, and Exelon Generation Limerick Generating Station's Chris Gerdes. Mr. Tambini focused his remarks how the SRRF helps support local conservation projects, which benefit all who rely on the Schuylkill River and its tributaries. He thanked everyone who has worked on/completed improvement projects through the SRRF and stated that DRBC is proud to be a long-standing partner in this very worthwhile effort.

The $364,193 distributed from the SRRF in 2017 will directly support eight projects and three land transaction grants, all of which will improve the water quality in the Schuylkill River and its tributaries, a source of drinking water for 1.5 million people. The funded projects will mitigate stormwater runoff, abandoned mine drainage, and agricultural pollution, while the land transaction grants will assist with costs associated with permanent protection of priority watershed parcels. View a listing of the funded projects in 2017 (pdf 180 KB).

Contributors to the SRRF in 2017 included Exelon Generation's Limerick Generating Station, the Philadelphia Water Department, Aqua PA, Coca-Cola, the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary, and MOM's Organic Market. Administered by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area (SRHA), the SRRF was initiated 12 years ago with funds from Exelon Corporation, which has participated every year. To date, the SRRF has awarded over $3.3 million to 95 projects that help reduce pollution entering the Schuylkill River and its tributaries.

The SRRF is a great example of how partnering works to accomplish great things, bringing together government agencies, private industries, non-profit organizations, local businesses, and local community members to achieve positive environmental results for the Schuylkill River Watershed.

The SRRF was created under a DRBC docket and Exelon Generation LLC's desire to assist the restoration of the Schuylkill River Watershed, by providing large grants for on-the-ground improvements. DRBC approves the projects that are selected for funding using the Exelon funds and is one of several entities that sits on an advisory committee that chooses which projects get funded annually.

Click here (pdf 202 KB) to view the SRHA press release "Schuylkill River Heritage Area Distributes Over $364,000 in Grants to Improve Water Quality in the River and Streams."

For additional information on the creation of the SRRF, how it's managed, and its contributors, please click on the link in the "More Information" box.

To learn more about SRHA and their administration of the SRRF, please click on the SRHA link in the "More Information" box.